Town boss Paul Jewell says he’s heard nothing from Middlesbrough regarding striker Jason Scotland since the summer, despite tabloid claims at the weekend. However, the Blues manager has confirmed that there is a clause in the 32-year-old’s contract which would see him secure an additional year on his current wages once he has made 19 league starts this season, as reported by TWTD on Sunday.
Jewell said: "Middlesbrough were interested in the last window, but I haven’t had any contact with Tony Mowbray regarding Jason Scotland in this window.”
The Town boss confirmed the clause in Scotland’s contract, the Trinidadian having made 13 league starts so far this campaign, but says that won’t make a difference when it comes to picking his team: "There is clause after 19 league starts. I’m not going to not play him because he’s got a clause. There are a few players who have got clauses in their contracts at this club and other clubs.
"It can sometimes cause problems, I think it caused a problem at Portsmouth with Michael Brown, but I don’t envisage it causing us a problem.
"It’s not something where the owner has said make sure you don’t play him. He’s in the team we’re playing at Birmingham and I’ll pick a team on what I think is best. We’re not exactly in a situation to be picky and choosy, we have to pick what we think is the best team.”
Jewell doesn’t entirely rule out Scotland moving on during the window but says the clause doesn’t make his exit any more likely: "If an offer comes in for any player, whoever that player is, if we think it’s an acceptable offer and the player wants to go, that’s football. Otherwise everyone would stay at the same club for the rest of their lives.
"I’m not thinking of moving Jason Scotland out at the moment but I could get back to the office and get a phone call from a club that wants to buy him, so that might change. But as I sit here, clauses in people’s contracts don’t come into my thinking, the only thinking I’m doing is about trying to get a result.
"It’s very early in the window,” he continued. "I’m more interested in getting people in than getting people out.”
Jewell says there’s been no significant progress regarding Keith Andrews’s return to Portman Road, the midfielder’s loan having ended at the weekend: "I spoke to Keith’s agent on Friday. He’s got a lot of interest from Premier League sides and the problem is that because it’s so early in the window, they probably don’t want to dive into the first thing on offer.
"You’ve seen it before, in the last few days of the window some stuff comes out of left field. We’d like to bring Keith Andrews here, we really would. Keith did really well and he knows that we like him.”
The Blues boss appears to less hopeful that Danny Collins will return: "I spoke to [Stoke boss] Tony Pulis last week and I think Danny’s looking for something local to where he is. His wife’s just had a baby and he’s settled in that area, so I think his family situation is dictating that. But again, that could change later in the window.”
Jewell, who ruled out changes to his coaching staff, says there’s been little progress regarding new contracts for the likes of Grant Leadbitter and Josh Carson: "They’re ongoing. I think all parties are a little bit embarrassed to be holding contract discussions [at the moment].
"I said to the players on Sunday that I understand there’s a lot of uncertainty around the place because there are a lot of contracts up and we’ve had a lot of loan players, and there’s a lot of talk around the place.
"Let’s just try and focus on trying to getting some results. Let’s try to group together as one. Everyone’s battering us at the minute, let’s try and use a bit of a siege mentality.”